Ophthalmic mounting



March 27, 1934. L, POETQN 1,952,890

OPHTHALMIG MOUNTING Filed NOV. ll, 1929 Q HHHHHHIHHUUJIDIUJIU) 5c. E l2 Q 5599/ f/6 '6E ;z; l

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A T TORNE Y Patented Mar. 27, 15934 .UNITED STATES PATEN FFICE OPHTHALMIC MOUNTING Lawrence Poeten, Southbridge, Mass., assigner to American ptical Company, Southbridge,

Mass., a voluntary association of Massachusetts Application November 11, 1929, Serial No. 406,457

l Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in ophthalmic mountings and has particular reference to an improved form of side or temple for said mountings and to the process of forming the i undue stretching of the ear-loop.

Another object of this invention is to provide means whereby the ear-loop may flex freely after being curled to shape and not be made inflexible after bending by the construction used before 'S'O curling.

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Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and it will be understood that many changes may be "1 made in the details of construction, arrangement of partsA and steps in the process without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the exact details shown and described as the preferred forms only have been shown by way of illustration.

In the drawing: Fig. I is a side view of theimproved temple. Fig. II is a fragmentary enlarged longitudinal section on line II--II of Fig. I.

Fig. III is a fragmentary enlarged longitudinal section on line III-III of Fig. I.

Fig. IV is a front View of the butt Vportion at a certain stage in the process.

Fig. V is a front view of a coil member at a certain stage of the process.

Fig. VI is a front view of the butt portion at another stage in the process.

Fig. VII is a front view of another coil mem- 'i ber illustrating a further step in the process.

sure great flexibility and comfort in wear and are free to work one upon the other.

The main disadvantage of the usual type described lies in the fact that while they are quite flexible and comfortable in wear they are not very rrn or suiciently so to maintain the lenses of the mounting in proper position before the wearers eyes, particularly in the case of heavy lenses. v

This type of side is also very susceptible to side twisting, displacement from its initial curl and particularly a liability to open up between the individual coils thus lengthening the side when in use.

It is the prime object of my invention therefore to provide an improved side for an ophthalmic mounting which will be of a comfortable iiexible nature and yet be suiciently rigid to maintain the mounting in its proper location on the wearers head.

Referring to the drawing wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views the improved temple or side consists preferably of the combination ci a non-metallic straight portion 1 which is designed to rest adjacent the wearers cheek and a resilient metal portion 2 which is formed to t around the wearers ear.

In the manufacture cf this improved temple a metal butt 3 is rst formed with a shoulder portion 4 at one end and a tapered portion 5 at the other as shown in Fig. IV. This butt 3 is to be placed in the straight portion 1, as will presently be described.

To form the resilient and yet firm ear-loop described in the foregoing I next form a wire coil 6 by winding a plurality, preferably foul` wires of some tempered springy metal onto a mandrel 'i as shown in Fig. V and then withdraw the mandrel. This coil 6 is then attached to the butt` 3 previously made by inserting the tapered end 5 in the bore of the coil and securing it therein by solder or other suitable method. The excess of solder necessarily left on the outside of the coil 6 from this operation is preferably removed by drawing the secured parts through a hardened die. This operation reduces the outside of both coil 6 and butt 3 to a similar size and also polishes and smooths their surfaces.

I next finish off the butt portion 3 by swaging the enlarged end Li to form the temple joint, Fig. VI, at the same time forming the fins 9.- I next preferably plate the secured coil 6 and butt 3 in nickel or other non-corrosive material and finally fiol dip them in a solution of lacquer such as liquid celluloid to prevent rusting.

Over the straight butt portion 3 I next place a nonmetallic tube 10 of shell or its Well-known composition imitations and secure it with the fins 9 and a suitable cement. The tube 10 is preferably formed With a recess 1l at the end adjacent the coil 6.

I next form a second tubular coil 12 Fig. VII by Winding, preferably, a single Wire which may be of precious metal on to a mandrel 13 whose diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the coil 6 previously formed. I then place this coil 12 upon a mandrel of similar size as the one used to form said coil 12 and reduce it by swaging to a uniform thickness with smooth exterior and interior surfaces after Which I Withdraw' it from the mandrel.

One of the novel and important features of the construction is to obtain the proper spacing of the individual turns of the Wire core 12 one from the other in order that the proper flexibility of the temple may be obtained. If the coil turns are jammed too close together the temple will be too rigid and if they are too widely spaced the temple will be Weak and drooping as Will be apparent.

I obtain the desired degree of flexibility by placing the coil 12 over the coil 6 upon which it freely slides and one end I place into the recess 11 previously formed in the shell covering 16. The end of the coil 12 is not placed far enough into the recess 11 to abut the face 14 of said recess but a small space 17 is left, at 'this time, between them, as shown in Fig. VIII.

A Wire core 16 is next slipped within the inner coil 6 until it abuts the end of the butt portion 3 as shown in Fig. II and a collar 15 is then slipped over the outer coil 12 and left at present loosely thereon.

As previously stated one of the novel and important features of this temple is to obtain a proper spacing for the turns of the coil 12 one from the other so that a proper flexibility will be obtained. This I do by providing the space 11v Which acts as will now be described.

The outer coil 12, inner coil 6 and wire core 16 are trimmed flush at their exposed ends and a ball of solder 18, as shown in Fig. III, is preferably used to secure them together at this end. A cap member 19 is then placed over the ball 18 and rolled into hrm engagement with the ends of the coils to hold them together.

I next stretch the individual turns of the outer coil 12 to the proper spacing and insert the end into space 17 which I have lled with a suitable adhesive, such as cement, so that a tight fit may be secured. The end of the coil 12 will abut the bottom of the recess and be secured thereto. It Will be understood that the stretching is performed simultaneously with pushing the end of the coil 12 into the recess, the coil being stretched as it enters.

From this construction it will be apparent that Lthe individual turns of the outer coil are .tions of the prior art temples overcome.

ment with the shell covering 10 Fig. II and rolled over to secure the outer coil 12 to the side portion in stretched position.

It will be noted that the inner core 16 is quite free in the coils and that its inner end is not secured but left free therein. This provides a guide for the coils to prevent twisting and side movement and also prevents the tendency of the earloop portion to stretch. By leaving the end free I obtain all the support necessary Without preventing free flexing of the coils as desired. The inner core 16 also acts as a solid base to secure the ball tip 18. It will be noted in this connection that Where the ball at the end is secured only to hollow coils as in the prior art a very insecure connection is formed.

The size of the wire core 16 may also be used as a means of determining the degree of flexibility or resiliency of the temple. By selecting thick or thin Wire the degree of resiliency is at once controlled as will be apparent.

The shell 10 may be pressed or otherwise shaped to a desired contour, such as oval or fiat, to lie against the Wearers face. The ear-loop may now be formed by bending the coils and core over a former and it will be apparent that the turns of the outer coil 12 will not be jammed together in this operation as they are spaced from each other by the stretching process described. If the stretching process had been omitted it will be apparent that the outer coil Would not be able to flex easily when bent to shape and the desired elasticity of the ear-loop Would be destroyed.

It will be seen that the coils and core are all loose upon one another and that this construction combines the advantages of a springy and soft ear engaging loop with the advantages of the stiffer and less resilient types which do not quickly lose their initial shape and support heavy lenses with great ease. The wire core will retain the coils in shape in spite of much handling and even though heavy lenses are used, While the stretched outer coil Will provide resiliency and freedom from jamming such as is not possible in the prior art.

From the foregoing it Will be apparent that I have provided a construction for a temple for an ophthalmic mounting which will be flexible in adjustment, comfortable in wear and durable enough to retain its shape, throughout the life of the mounting.

I-Iaving described my invention, I claim:

1. The method of making a temple for an ophthalmic mounting comprising forming a Wire butt with a tapered end, Winding a spiral metal coil with an aperture adapted to receive said tapered end, securing said tapered end in the coil, reducing said butt and coil to similar size, inserting a core in the coil, and securing said core and coil at the end opposite the taper.

2. The method of making a temple for an ophthalmic mounting comprising forming a Wire butt with a tapered end, securing a spiral coil to the tapered end, securing a non-metal sleeve having a recess over the Wire butt, placing a second coil over the first With a portion entering said recess and spaced from the bottom thereof, shaping the ends of the two coils opposite the recess to a flush surface, moving the second coil along the first to abut the bottom of the recess and securing said coils in position.

3. The method of making a temple for an ophthalmic mounting comprising forming a Wire butt with a tapered end, securing a spiral coil to the tapered end, securing a non-metallic sleeve having a recess over the wire butt, placing a second coil over the rst with a portion entering said recess and spaced from the bottom thereof, placing a collar member loosely on the second coil, inserting a Wire core within the first coil, shaping the exposed ends of the coils and core to a flush surface, securing said ends against longitudinal movement, securing the second coil to the bottom of said recess and securing the collar member in position on the second coil adjacent the non-metallic sleeve.

4. The method of making a temple for an ophthalmic mounting comprising securing a Wire butt to a tubular coil, reducing said butt and coil to a similar size, forming a plurality of web portions on the butt, securing a non-metallic sleeve over the webbed butt, winding a second tubular coil with an aperture larger than the flrst coil, reducing said second coil in size, placing the second tubular coil over the rst to be extensible thereon, inserting a core Withirr said coils and securing said core to the rst tubular coil.

5. A temple for an ophthalmic mounting, comprising a butt having a tapered end, a spiral metal coil having a portion fitting over the tapered end and secured thereto, said butt and spiral coil member being of similar outside diameters and a separate core loosely mounted in the spiral coil and secured thereto at the end opposite the connection to the tapered portion, said spiral coil forming joining means for holding the butt and separate core in unsecured aligned relation With each other.

6. A temple for an ophthalmic mounting comprising a butt having a tapered end, a spiral coil secured to said tapered end, a sleeve having a recessed portion over the butt, a second coil over the rst coil having a portion entering the recess, a collar member secured to the outer coil adjacent the recessed portion of the sleeve, a core within the first coil and means for securing said inner and outer coils and core together adjacent their free ends.

7. In a device of the character described, a bar member, a spiral coil secured adjacent one end to the bar member, a sleeve member on the bar member, said sleeve being secured to the bar member and having a recessed end, a second coil loosely mounted over the iirst coil and having a portion entering the recess in the sleeve and being secured to the rst coil adjacent its end opposite the bar member, said rst coil forming joining means for aiding in holding the second coil from retraction from the recess in the sleeve.

8. In a device of the character described, a bar member having a shouldered end, a spiral coil secured to the shouldered end, a sleeve member secured on the bar member and having a recessed end, a second coil loosely mounted over the rst coil and having a portion entering the recess in the sleeve and being secured to the rst coil adjacent its end opposite the bar member, said rst coil forming joining means for aiding in holding the second coil from retraction from the recess in the sleeve.

9. 'I'he method of making a temple for an ophthalmic mounting comprising forming a Wire butt, With a reduced end Winding a spiral metal coil with an aperture to receive the reduced end of the butt, securing the reduced end of the butt in the coil, reducing said butt and coil to similar size, inserting a core in the coil and securing the core to the coil at the end opposite the end secured to the reduced portion of the butt.

10. A temple for an ophthalmic mounting comprising a butt, a spiral metal coil having a portion fitted to the end of the butt and secured thereto, said butt and spiral coil being of similar outside diameters and a separate core loosely mounted in the spiral coil and secured thereto at the end opposite its connection to the butt, said spiral coil forming joining means for holding the butt and separate core in unsecured aligned relation to each other.

LAWRENCE POETON. 

